Last week, we saw the conversion of Lydia which led to the beginning of a new church in the city of Philippi, only later to find Paul and Silas being beaten by the city magistrates and thrown into a jail cell. While they sang praises to God, a well-timed earthquake shook the walls and loosened their chains, which led to the jailer asking the question, “What must I do to be saved?” After sharing the gospel with the jailer and his household, they all believed and were baptized. Later the next day, when the magistrates discovered that Paul was a Roman citizen, they “begged” Paul and Silas to leave town and keep the “beating” quiet.

Luke, who was traveling with them, recorded that they left Philippi and headed west to the major city of Thessalonica. And, as you might have expected, Paul (along with Silas) entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day and began to share the Gospel. In fact, Paul did this for three consecutive Sabbaths! Notice what Luke recorded:

For three Sabbaths he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ” (Acts 17:2-3).

Let’s take a minute to unpack this. First of all, Paul “reasoned” from the Scriptures, that is, he used the Old Testament as the source of his message, which the Jews in the synagogue would have been familiar with. Second, he “explained” and “gave evidence” from the prophecies found in those Scriptures that the Messiah had to suffer and rise again. Paul undoubtedly went to Isaiah 53 for the prophecy of Jesus’ beating and death, and then to Psalm 16:10 which prophesied that God would not allow His Holy One to see decay, hence, the resurrection. And third, Paul pointed directly to Jesus, the Messiah, as having fulfilled these prophecies.

Next, we see the power of the spoken Word as the Holy Spirit is energized through it:

And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a great multitude of God-fearing Greeks and a number of leading women (Acts 17:4).

These were the ones who were in the synagogue listening to Paul as he presented the Gospel, and these were the ones (along with a growing number of others) to whom Paul would later write two letters, 1 and 2 Thessalonians! But as you might have expected, their message didn’t come without some push-back:

But the Jews (those in leadership positions) becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar… (Acts 17:5).

Luke tells us that they went to the house of Jason to find Paul and Silas, but the brethren in this new church, sensing mob violence, sent Paul and Silas away, letting them know that they should continue westward and go to Berea where there was also a synagogue of the Jews. Here is how Luke describes those Jews and God-fearing Greeks in the synagogue in Berea:

Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the Word which great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so (Acts 17:11).

Just look at the hearts and minds of these Bereans – They were “noble-minded,” meaning that they were men and women of praiseworthy character. Why would Luke say this about them? It’s because they received the Word with great eagerness after they examined the Scriptures each day to see if what Paul was sharing was true. In their noble search of the Scriptures, they discovered that what Paul was sharing with them was actually true. In other words, they didn’t just take Paul’s word for it, they did their own searching, and they did it daily! And then Luke adds:

Many of them therefore believed, along with a number of prominent Greek men and women (Acts 17:12).

Once again, we see the spoken Word of God bearing fruit. But trouble was brewing, as the irate Jews from Thessalonica heard that Paul was proclaiming the same message in Berea as he did in Thessalonica, and they showed up and began to agitate the people and stir up the crowds. And so, when the Berean believers caught wind of this, they sent Paul out to the coast while Silas and Timothy remained in Berea. Paul caught a ship to Athens, and sent word to Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as they could.

If you are a follower of Christ, it is my prayer that you would exhibit the heart and mind of those Bereans who received God’s Word with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to confirm the message found in those Scriptures. If you are not yet a follower of Jesus, I pray that you, too, would be a Berean and search the Scriptures to understand the life and ministry of Jesus and the essence of the Good News that He came to give us.

Next week, we will make a stop in Athens and see what Paul did as he encountered the Greek philosophers and scholars. May the Lord bless you and keep you in His care.